The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-02
a wOMAN'S DOUBLE LIFE,
A Strange Case Recalled by that of the
chicago Girl who Lost her Memory.
From, the Nesn Hork Sasll

A strange Case Hecalled py that Of the
Chicago Girl who Lost her Memory.
From, the Ne,c York Sa.lt
HARRISBURG, Pa, July 23-'I read re.
,entlv.n said resident of Crawford county,
this State, 'the account of the curious i'm
nairment of memory reported in the case of
Miss Houtaling, the Chicago young lady,
and while it must be that the case is an ex-
troordinary one, there died in Crawford
county q few years ago q lady who pre-
sented one far more extraordinary and mys-
terious in its nature Her name was Mary
Pevnolds She was a daughter of John
REYNOLDS. one of the early settlers of the
county. She was at the age of 16 young
lady Of superior accomplishments and of a
~,ivacious nature At that age she was pros
trated with a nervous disease which left
her blind, deaf, and speeches.. She TO-
NAMED in that condition for about a month
when she recovered her sight and hearing.
Her mind was as strong as ever, and she
Ind recovered her physical health and
strength when one morning about two
months after regaining her sight and hear
mo she awoke with all recollection of every.
thing she ever knew entirely gone. Her
snepcb. however, had returned to her, but
her utterances were imperfect and strangely
constructed Her mind was apparently as
sound as it had ever been, but she did not
know her parents nor any of her relatives
NJ friends She could not name a single
letter of the alphabet and had forgotten the
use of written language. She had always
been a famous housekeeper, but all her
knowledge of domestic employment was
gone. She did not know the use of broom
and kettle boiling Oh the stove was
source of wonder to her. She remained in
this strange condition for over a month
when she awoEe with all her original con-
seriousness. She had passed out of her period
of lost memory during the night. All re-
membrance of the weeks she had been in
Chat state was gone The period was an
entire blank to her. All the knowledge and
attainments which she had forgotten during
that period returned to her. While she bad
been in the state of second nature, as it
might be called, various things had been
taught to her. She remained in her natural
condition only three weeks when she lapsed
into the other state again, and as before for
got everything pertaining to her natural
state What she had learned during her
first lapse came back to her in the second
The three weeks lucid interval was a blank
to her.
''These lapses continued at irregular in
tervals for period of twenty-five years.
Sometimes she would be in one condition
for months, and then change for months
into the other Sometimes the lapses would
be but for a few hours Most of the time
Sne remained in the second condition. The
changes always took place in her sleep. In
passing from her unnatural into her natural
life no evidence of the change was percepti-
be- but i'll changing to the other way her
sleep was such that nothing could awaken
her until the transpositlon of natures had
taken place. The sleep was, in fact, almost
suspended animation, and frequently lasted
twentv-four hours. As she had no conscious
ness when in one condition of ever hav-
ing been in the other it was long before she
came to realize it through the statements
and affirmations of her friends. When she
came to fully appreciate the situation in
which she was placed she could foretell
days before the dreaded change to the sec
ond condition came that it was approach
ing, and at first she always babe all her rel
atives aud friends a fearful farewell, fear
ing that she might never awaken from the
long. depth-like sleep As the years
passed, however, and the transitions be-
came familiar to her, their approach was
no longer attended by the solemn apprehen-
SONS. T. "ra.
in the course of time Miss Reynolds ac-
CURED as much knowledge in her unnatural
state as she had in her natural Her brother
taught her to write in the former. He gave
her a sentence which he had written
to copy, She took the pen and copied
the words, but wrote with her left hand,
and from right to left A singular circum-
stance connected with her was that any
thing could be taught to her with greater
ease while she was in her lapsed condition,
and that in that condition she wrote charm
ing verses, a gift she did not command in
her natural state. Likewise she was of a
most imaginative nature in her second con-
ditioh, with wit extremely keen, and pos
sessed remarkable conversational powers.
In her natural state she was quiet and
thoughtful She formed most peculiar and
strong dislikes in her lapses against those
who were her best and most intimate friends
IN her natural life For more than twenty
years she was a teacher iii the public
schools Of Crawford county. For several
years before her death she had lived with
out lapSing into her second, or unnatural,
condition. Relatives of hers live in the
vicinity of Meadville and Titusville yet, l
believe